When the Matchmakers Met
by LadyAlambiel
Summary: When the matchmakers met, tales were told, information shared, and a plan was formed...


Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't...

Summary: When the matchmakers met, tales were told, information shared, and a plan was formed...

A/N: This is set in my _A Light in the Darkness_ universe, and is best understood if you've already read _Awakening, Shadowed, Revealed, and Concealed _first. But you can give it a whirl on its own if you so choose, though there's spoilers ahead for important storylines.

**When the Matchmakers Met**

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I hurried after Susan as she fairly ran through the halls. We were going to a meeting, but this was going to be different from any of the meetings I had been to in almost seven years of ruling Narnia with my siblings. Susan looked over her shoulder, "Come along, Lu! We can't be late."

I lifted my skirts slightly and ran faster, "Coming, Susan, coming!"

We finally reached our destination in the western part of the palace. Susan halted in front of a door and tapped three times in quick succession. I stared in surprise at Susan using a secret signal, but she whirled around and grabbed me by the hand just as the door opened and my proper big sister the Gentle Queen _yanked_ me into the room. The door was slammed shut behind us. "Finally! Now, young ones, we may begin. Let's see, Queen Susan, have you informed your sister of everything we have been planning and why we are meeting? No, you haven't done that yet. That's perfectly all right. We shall take care of everything here and now since this is why we're meeting anyway. Why are you still standing in front of the door? Come further in!"

I giggled as Tuulea finally stopped talking long enough to usher Susan and I further into the room. Alithia was already there as were Tuulea's daughters-in-law, Caia and Deianeira. Deianeira beamed at us as we each claimed seats on either side of the Nymph. Of course, as Kat had pointed out yesterday, Deianeira had been beaming ever since she found out she was expecting three weeks ago. Tuulea couldn't have been more excited to finally have a grandchild on the way. Before I even had the chance to ask if we were meeting about Deianeira, Tuulea rejoined us. The Black Elder Nymph smiled brightly, "Now that we're all here, we can get down to business."

I looked around as Susan, Deianeira, Alithia, and Caia all nodded in agreement, but I still didn't know why we were here. "What business, Tuulea?"

Tuulea smiled again, but this seemed different as if she knew a grand secret and was finally going to let me join in. I didn't know what she was going to say, but I was already excited. "Our business this morn is none other than Alambiel."

"Kat? We're meeting about Kat?" They all nodded and my eyes widened as I realized... "This is a matchmaker meeting!" They all laughed, even Caia and that Centauress was one of the sterner members of Susan's primary guards, and nodded. I turned to Susan, "Is this related to when you were suggesting all those potential suitors to Kat back in Yule? Right before Christmas?" Susan nodded and I turned to look at Tuulea, "She said no to every one of them!"

Tuulea laughed, "Well of course she did. Alambiel is far too stubborn to agree to just anyone and I suspect even the one who is right for her shall have a merry chase before she agrees to even an official courtship. And that is why we are having this meeting. We need to approach the matter of matching Alambiel from a united front. Queen Susan, you mentioned you had a list of potential suitors for Alambiel, yes? Well, I think now is the time to share."

I turned to look at Susan, as did the others. My sister pulled out a tightly rolled scroll of parchment and only just started to unfurl it when Tuulea spoke up again, "Are there Human men on that list? Thought so. Well, we'll just mark them off the list now."

I looked at the Nymph in confusion, "Why? I thought Kat would be able to marry anyone she wanted."

"Alambiel is only partially Human thanks to her father's blood. In reality, like most of the original royal line of Frank, she is more Narnian than Human. Stonebrook would be able to give you a better history lesson about it, but there were times when the line of succession didn't go with the eldest child of the ruling King or Queen but to whichever child had married a Human in order to prevent the lineage of Adam and Eve from being bred out of the royal family since the King or Queen of Narnia needed to have enough Human blood for Aslan to call them a son or daughter of Adam and Eve even if they were also a son or daughter of Narnia. Alambiel's father, King Lew, was one-fourth Human as his mother, Queen Swanwhite, was half-Human and half-Nymph. While Alambiel's mother, Hadassah, was the Nymph daughter of the Centaur Asbolus and the Black Elder Nymph Keziah. The records of past unions between Humans and Nymph daughters of Centaurs have proven that their children while taking on more Human and Nymph physical traits maintain the lifespan and endurance of the Centaurs."

I frowned, "But what about Lew's father? Doesn't his heritage come into effect as well?" I had searched for stories about Queen Swanwhite but information about the mysterious Prince Consort Lev was scarce and nothing was ever mentioned about his background. Tuulea knew so much about the original royal family that I found it hard to believe she wouldn't have the information.

Tuulea paused for a moment before she shrugged, "I have no doubt that it does, but other than to say Lev was not Human, I cannot say how. No one actually knows Lev's background, my Queens, which is why you have been unable to find what you were looking for in the library. Don't look so surprised, I'm married to Stonebrook...he told me. Let's see have you heard how Lev and Swanwhite met? No. Well, I'll tell you then. Towards the end of her father's reign, there was a great storm. It was almost to the point of being a hurricane; I remember feeling the winds shake my tree even though it is deep within the Centaur lands and far from the sea. After the storm passed, the Crown Princess Swanwhite looked out from her balcony for she loved the sea as much as you, Queen Lucy, and spied someone lying on the beach. Calling for healers, she ran to the beach and found the person she had seen was a young man still halfway in the surf. He remained unconscious in the care of the healers, including myself as my master had decided I was to enter the final stage of my apprenticeship, for nearly three weeks. One night as Swanwhite came to check on him, he opened his eyes. He told us his name and that he was not from the islands, but other than that, he never spoke of his heritage and past. But, we all knew he wasn't Human...it's in the eyes."

Tuulea paused again, seeming lost in her memories for a moment, while I marveled at how much she knew. Alithia cleared her throat and continued before I forgot why we had been called there and asked Tuulea to expound upon the story. "Not to mention, Alambiel may only count herself to be twenty-five, but as far as most Narnians are concerned, she is one hundred and eighteen years of age. But, history lessons aside, the fact that Alambiel is of Centaur and Nymph heritage means that she does not and will not age the way pure Humans do and she has the significantly longer lifespan of her Centaur kin. Unless she happened to fall in love with a Human suitor, it would be cruel to force her to watch her husband grow old and die while she is yet in the prime of her life."

I felt a pang at the idea of Kat being forced through more loss, and I had never even thought about what would happen if Kat did marry a Human man instead of a native Narnian. From the stricken look on Susan's face, I knew my sister hadn't thought of it either. "Does Kat know?"

Tuulea and Alithia both nodded, "She's known since she was the prisoner of the Witch Medea." Tuulea looked a little sad as she added, "Alambiel asked me whether what she had been told about the consequence of her heritage was true or not...for once the witch told the untainted truth. It is one of the reasons she doesn't pay the few brave, or foolish, enough to attempt to court her much heed, if any. Very stubborn, our Alambiel, and at the moment she is simply refusing to acknowledge what is right in front of her."

Susan and I looked at each other, then I protested, "But, Tuulea, you sound as though you've already settled on who would be perfect for Kat. I thought we were still deciding who would be the right match for her."

Tuulea laughed softly, "My dears, just because the two of you are only now interested in matching Alambiel doesn't mean we have all made a recent interest. I've been thinking about it since just after she was knighted and Alithia joined me in watching and planning shortly after Alambiel and your brother were rescued from the witch and her mercenaries."

I was a little in shock at how long Tuulea in particular had been contemplating who would make a good match for Kat, but there was a reason all the unattached single adults in the Cair always regarded Tuulea with an edge of wariness now that her sons were married and no longer a distraction. Susan and I exchanged another look and then Susan spoke up, "But, what if the suitors she actually didn't despise abruptly leave again?"

Tuulea, Alithia, Deianeira, and Caia all looked amused before Tuulea flashed us a satisfied grin, "You refer to Kitron, Giles, and Koen? Those three suitors all left abruptly after one particular warrior pulled them aside for a 'private' conversation."

"Does Kat know?"

Caia laughed, "If she did, he would have been severely bruised during their sparring matches."

My mouth dropped open as I realized who they were referring to, "Oreius drove off Kat's suitors?"

They all nodded while Susan giggled, "Of course!"

I turned to my sister, "You're not surprised?"

Susan immediately shook her head, "No. Think about it, everyone knows that they're close friends and that Oreius swore to be her shield and we know that Kat considers him to be her best friend. Out of all of us, I think he knows the most about her life away from Narnia and we know he's the only one she taught Irish too. And...and he's been even more protective of her since Yule...no, actually before then since Kat and Edmund were rescued from Medea and the mercenaries." She clapped her hands in excitement as she continued, "And they have kissed!"

I hesitated, "Do mistletoe kisses count? I mean they had a huge fight just last week and haven't actually spoken to each other since...they didn't even keep their habit of talking to each other on Sixthday evenings two days ago."

Tuulea gave a dismissive wave, "For two people who possess some of the strongest, not to mention stubborn, personalities I've ever encountered, Alambiel and Oreius are going to clash with each other from time to time. Watch, by the time they return from the diplomatic trip your brothers assigned them, they shall be at least amiable again. And, besides, it seems Alambiel has kissed Oreius one other time than under the mistletoe. His mention of it is what caused their fight by the way."

I considered everything and then my own excitement bubbled up, "They must care for each other as more than friends then! And, when they get back, we can work on getting Kat to see that they really are perfect for each other! Oh this is going to be such fun!" I paused then looked at Tuulea, "Who else have you been considering matches for?"

Tuulea shrugged, "Well, there's Tarrin, King Edmund, Raisa, you and your sister, King Peter was originally on the list but his interest has most definitely been caught so he is no longer, Ptah, Connell, Titania, along with several others. But, some are still too young to be concerning themselves with such matters, and others are simply not ready to leave single life behind. I have yet to decide who I should focus on matching yet. For now though it is Oreius and Alambiel who need our attention most."

We all started giggling then as we began comparing what we had seen that gave us hope for Kat and Oreius being the right matches for each other. We all agreed that Kat needed to be gently poked and prodded into acknowledging that she truly cared for Oreius and not as a friend. Tuulea and Alithia both asserted that it was Kat who we needed to focus on, apparently Oreius had given other signs besides running off her suitors that he was well on his way to falling in love with her. All the matchmakers needed to do was help guide things so they didn't spend decades tiptoeing around their feelings. I couldn't wait to get started on my first matchmaking adventure.

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**A/N: Please Read and Review! So, Tuulea demanded another chance to demonstrate the fact she knows pretty much everything about everyone...I gave it to her. This is set about six months after _Concealed_ and _Christmas in the Cair_. Just a nice way to recap everything that's been revealed throughout my stories. Thanks to WillowDryad for poking at pieces and making sure I didn't forget anything. **


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